March 24, 2011

Many religions condemn overeating and gluttony. Yet young adults who frequently attend religious activities are 50 percent more likely to turn into obese middle-agers than those with no religious involvement, according to research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The study tracked 2,433 men and women over 18 years and provides much stronger evidence that religion may be a predictor of who becomes obese. Differences in age, race, sex, education, income and baseline body mass index couldn't explain the weight gain. But like previous research, it doesn't shed light on why the effect is seen.

The researchers acknowledge there are many potential explanations for the association between religious participation and obesity. One may simply be that religious gatherings often may center around eating traditional, high-calorie comfort foods, said Matthew Feinstein, the study's lead investigator and a fourth-year student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Or perhaps, young adults with a propensity toward weight problems find more acceptance and less judgment in church groups. Maybe religious faith gives some sort of physiological high similar to physical exercise, but without the burn off of calories. Or maybe, as Purdue University sociologist Ken Ferraro has suggested with his previous work, "churches are a feeding ground for gluttony and obesity."

Ferraro, who was not involved in the study, called it "intriguing and important." But he wondered whether the observed effect was only seen in women. And he also questioned the role of marriage, since the study focuses on the time period when many Americans get hitched.

"We know that weight gain is common after marriage and that marriage is highly valued in most religious groups," he said. "Thus, one wonders if the results could be partially due to religious people being more likely to get married earlier and then gaining weight."

Yvonne Bennett, a Chicago-area fitness instructor, said the study results likely apply to some churches but not all. At her own church, Trinity Baptist Community Church International in Crystal Lake, Bennett started a fitness ministry to focus on healthy eating pracatices and exercise.

"As a result the fellowship at my church has become healthier," she said. "We now see lots of salads, fruits, veggies and water being served."

Bennett added that "many churches are adapting these practices by adding exercise classes to their morning time and mid- week activities."

Baptist women are at highest risk of obesity, followed by Fundamental Protestants, according to Ferraro's work. Though the South, home to many Baptists, is known for its less healthy eating patterns, Baptist women were still more likely to be obese when the researchers controlled for residency.

Men, however, were less likely to be obese if they sought counseling and comforting through religious sources.

"The trend could be related to the strong emphasis for Baptists to avoid alcohol and tobacco, and as a result, many of them indulge in overeating, instead," Ferraro said.

In Feinstein's study, however, the authors still found a strong and significant association between religious participation and obesity after adjusting for smoking, which suggests that differences in smoking among more and less religious individuals does not explain their differing incidences of obesity.

Feinstein also stressed that while many people may be surprised to learn that those who are more religious may be more likely to become and remain obese, it's important to keep the findings in context.

Previous reserach has demonstrated that "religious people tend to live longer, smoke less, and have better mental health, and our study does nothing to challenge that," he said. "The real value of our study, then, is to highlight one health area in which there is room for improvement in the religious community, and which could potentially benefit from targeted obesity prevention and treatment initiatives."

Still, it's a tough crowd to win over. As my colleague Tribune religion writer Manya Brachear pointed on The Seeker, First Lady Michelle Obama introduced the "Let's Move" public health initiative to congregations last November. But "according to a Pew Research survey, 56 percent of white evangelicals frown on the government’s involvement in reducing childhood obesity."

March 23, 2011

The checkout line, which is carefully designed to inspire impulse purchases, is where parents often cave to their child's incessant demands for sweets.

But one Midwestern grocery store has replaced candy with supposedly so-called "healthier" options, Michelle Haacke said in the Albert Lea Tribune.

The experiment took two years to get off the ground. But Hy-Vee's Blue Zones lane, which features dried fruits, granola-type bars, string cheese and flavored water "has seen an average of a 42 percent increase on sales of items featured in the lane," Haacke reported.

The store has also seen a 60 percent increase in the sales of soy nuts, a 30 percent increase in the sales of raw no-salt sunflower seeds, a 63 percent increase in the sales of dried peaches (no sugar added varieties) and a 16 percent increase in the sales of Sunsweet prunes.

It's just one lane but it's a start. Gina Rau, who writes the Feed Our Families blog (where I initially saw the link to this story), would like to see her local Fred Meyer offer less junk food and more healthy snacks at her local Fred Meyer. "I might even be tempted to buy them, even though we typically don't buy single-serving snacks," she wrote. "It also gives me an opportunity to talk about healthy foods with my child while we wait in line."

Meanwhile, movie theaters and convenience stores may also be introducing healthier options. But they need to know it's what consumers want.

March 22, 2011

Most people think "natural lawn care" means you can ignore your lawn all spring and summer. But while it's a chemical-free process, it does require a few basic practices, Rachel Rosenberg wrote in this TribLocal piece.

And if you're making a switch from a conventional lawn care system, it will require at least two growing seasons to transition your soil back to health.

DO put down an organic fertilizer according to label directions in mid-April.

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DO seed and fill in thin or bare areas in your yard. Getting a thick turf is your key to a healthy turf. Choose seeds that will be naturally drought resistance and sturdy for our climate. Reseed at least twice a year: Fall and spring are the best times for reseeding.

DO wait until the grass is thick and almost tipping over before the first mowing of the season. This will promote really strong early root growth. Keep your mower blades sharp and cut to 3 inches.

DO water deeply but infrequently: Water long and deep early in the morning or at dusk. Watering at night promotes disease. Make sure your lawn gets at least one inch of water per week. Conserve by not overwatering your lawn.

DO use hand tools to reduce your weed populations. It's so much easier to reduce your weed population by pulling by hand, spot spraying if absolutely necessary or using specialized tools.

And a few caveats:

DON'T put down a pre-emergent (preventative) weed control in April.

DON'T use inorganic fertilizers.

DON'T have your lawn mowed and 'cleaned up' when it's not needed.

"Lawn care chemicals don't just stay put on the lawns," she wrote. "Kids and pets track them into our homes and they wash into our waterways where they can impact our health and our environment."

To help master gardeners, schools, homeowner associations, cities and landscapers learn more about natural lawn care, Safer Pest Control Project is co-sponsoring a one-day workshop on Wednesday, March 23 at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines.

For homeowners who want to learn more, Rosenberg will be speaking at 2 p.m. at the upcoming Spring Greening Event in Skokie on April 10th. She will also be speaking on Natural Lawn Care at the Skokie Public Library at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 30th.

If you're worried about your child's developing brain being affected by cell phones, try these tips to limit exposure:

Don't let toddlers or young children use cell phones. Teenagers should limit use to head sets or texting to keep the antenna away from the brain. Or shift the phone between ears.

Avoid white noise baby apps. Some children are falling asleep to white noise played from iPhones or Blackberries under their pillows. But the phones must stay on for the app to work. "A cell phone is a two-way microwave radio," said environmental health expert Devra Lee Davis, founder of the Environmental Health Trust, which campaigns for safer cell phone use.Davis. "That means infants stay asleep with their brains being radiated by the phones all night long."

Review SAR levels. The Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is a measure of the amount of radio frequency (RF) energy absorbed by the body when using the handset. Before you buy your child a phone, search the government's cell phone database

Follow the "one-inch" rule. Most cell phone manuals advise holding the phone "at least one inch" away from the head.

Don't carry a cell phone on your body. Place the phone inside a bag or some type of holster; this will help block the radiation from reaching the body.

Limit phone use when the signal is weak. The radiation increases as the device searches for a signal.

Cell phone safety warnings are generally designed for a large man with a big head who talks less than half an hour a day.

The average toddler's head, however, weighs about half as much and is far more susceptible to the microwave radiation the phone emits, said environmental health expert Devra Lee Davis, founder of the Environmental Health Trust, which campaigns for safer cell phone use.

As the debate over cell phones and cancer continues to rage, concern is growing over the effects of the phones — as well as devices such as the iPad — on children.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that pressing a cell phone to the ear for 50 minutes altered the brain activity in 47 adult volunteers.

The study doesn't answer the million dollar question: whether the change in brain activity causes any harm.

The wireless industry group says no research has proven cell phones to be dangerous.

The National Cancer Institute, meanwhile, says there is no consistent link between cell phones and cancer.

But the NCI also notes that there's currently no data on cell phone use and risk of cancer in children and that children may be at a greater risk because their nervous systems are still developing at the time of exposure.

Meanwhile, cell phone use by children and adolescents is increasingly rapidly.

Experts worry that children's brains, encased in a thinner skull, may be more vulnerable to the effects of the radiation emitted by the phones.

Dr. Nora Volkow, the lead author of the JAMA study, said modeling studies have shown that a child's brain would absorb more radiation than those of adults. But Volkow said she's unaware of studies that have looked at the different developmental effects.

Some studies have suggested that the radiation can cross or affect the entire brain of children, who are still developing, versus a particular area in adults," said Dr. Stephanie Wagner, co-medical director of the neuro-oncology program at Indiana University Health and the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis.

But studies looking at the effects of electromagnetic radiation in children and the risk of epilepsy and behavioral problems such as attention deficit disorder and aggressive behavior showed conflicting results, Wagner said.

Still, why take a chance, Volkow said.

She suggested that parents "teach their children to use their cell phones with a wired earphone and/or use the speakerphone mode and to avoid putting their cell phones directly on their ear."

March 20, 2011

The safety of artificial turf will be discussed by a panel of pediatric, environmental health and law experts at 7 p.m. Monday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Center in Chicago.

Artificial turf is often used as an alternative to natural grass, which can get torn up and muddy and can be difficult to maintain.

But some people have expressed concern over the turf’s "infill," which functions like dirt and is used to give the ground some cushion. Infill is usually made of tire crumb, or ground-up recycled car and truck tires. Though the substance looks pristine and requires little maintenance, some worry that athletes playing on these fields may be exposed to chemicals that may pose health risks.

Synthetic field and shredded-tire playground surfaces have been endorsed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for years. But there's little data available about the possible toxicological risks from the surface, according to documents released to the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Meanwhile, the EPA has said it isn't certain that chronic exposure to the chemicals found in tire crumb is safe.

Expected panelist Dr. Susan Buchanan, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, cites three main health concerns regarding artificial turf fields or playgrounds that use crumb rubber surfaces on her blog Greenkidsdoc.

But there's no consensus on the risk to children from playing on artificial turf fields. “Parents should be aware that the research is inadequate to determine whether these fields are safe for young children who play on them regularly," said Buchanan.

In addition to Buchanan, expected panelists include Dr. Joel Forman, an associate professor of pediatrics and community and preventive medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York; Dr. Helen Binns, a professor in pediatrics and preventive medicine at Children's Memorial Hospital; and Carolyn Raffensperger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network.

The event is sponsored by healthyplay.org a group formed by parents whose children attend Francis W. Parker School in Chicago.

In January, Parker School officials proposed using a synthetic turf surface with a crumb rubber infill to replace the school's existing natural grass field. After consideration, they decided to seek out an alternative to crumb rubber.

March 19, 2011

The way you prepare your food can be just as important as what food you eat. Is there any point in eating broccoli, for example, if you cook the life out of its natural carcinogen killers? On the other hand, some foods, such as tomatoes, may offer more benefits when they're cooked.

Fortunately, nutrition experts know a few tricks to help you get the most nutrients out of your food.

March 18, 2011

Kristine Timpert's quirky little book "If Babies Did Crunches" tries to sugarcoat an important message for adults: Beware of crunches.

The not-just for-kids book stresses that if you really want to banish tummy flab or back pain, clean up your diet and mimic your child's natural play patterns, which includes squatting, pushing, pulling, balancing and lunging.

One of the biggest mistakes new moms make, for example, is they start doing crunches to get back in shape. This only makes things worse. And if babies tried it,

"His back would get tired, his pelvis would tipThose short, tight muscles wouldn't help him a bit!" she wrote.

For the adults she added: "When we continually exercise on the floor or seated on machines, the nervous system loses its ability to quickly communicate with the muscles during movement leaving the joints susceptible to injury."

Timpert isn't the only one bashing crunches these days. In "The New Rules of Lifting for Abs," Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove welcome readers to the "No Crunch Zone." They argue that years of research show crunches and situps can do more harm than good, causing back pain and neck problems.

Timpert agrees. In an email, the neuromuscular therapist -- she has been trained to work with muscle tissue and trigger points or hot spots in the body-- and CHEK practitioner, answered a few more of my questions:

JD: Why did you write the book? KT: Fifteen years ago I was seriously injured in physical therapy. They manipulated me right into major surgery to relieve two cervical disks from my spinal cord. The top neurosurgeon in New Jersey saved my life. Nine months of recovery - minus physical therapy -- I reached out to the fitness industry to get strong. Unfortunately I received two more spinal injuries as a result of poor exercise recommendations from trainers. I found myself in terrible back pain again. No one had the knowledge to help me; everyone wanted to either inject me with something or operate. Then I found the CHEK Institute in California. After one lecture video I had enough information to stabilize my own spine. I went into the city to see Paul Chek in person and from there was determined to be the best CHEK Practitioner.

JD: What is a CHEK Practitioner?

KT: A CHEK Practitioner is someone who not only understands anatomy but knows what the anatomy is doing when the body is in action. We are able to access a body to identify what's working and what isn't. We use exercises as drugs. That means if you have a herniation in your low back, I am going to prescribe a list of exercises to help you get better fast. I am a top Level 4 CHEK which means I have studied the four programs designed by Paul Chek. He was recently named one of the top three people to contribute to the exercise industry. He is also the reason we have Swiss balls in the gym.

JD: So what's wrong with crunches? KT: In my book I talk about functional movement like squats and lunges. Crunches aren't necessarily bad, they're just terribly overused and misunderstood. Crunches are fine when done in harmony with functional movement. Kids need to squat freestanding and move like they do when playing outside. Pushing and pulling on a rope swing will do more for you abs than crunching. Sitting in school all day, doing homework, watching TV, riding in a car, etc., starts to create the problem. We're in flexion all day and then we lie down on our back and crunch. Flexion, flexion, flexion and no extension.

JD: What should people do instead?

KT: Crunching on a swiss ball allows the spine to flex and extend. Making sure the tongue on the roof of the mouth will strengthen the neck too. Planks are also good but I like a variety.

JD: What problems do you see with children? KT: Forward head posture, rounded upper backs and big lumbar curves. They stand with their knees in rotation and their feet in pronation. At school they sit on machines to exercise or do squats with their backs against the wall. When they do crunches, they always hold their heads and NEVER are they taught how to put their spines in extension. It's a physical fitness nightmare.

March 16, 2011

After a nuclear accident, potassium iodide (or KI) can prevent the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine, which may help reduce the risk of thyroid cancer. Seaweeds used as vegetables, meanwhile, are a good natural source of iodine.

But “not all food sources are going to contain enough iodine to be useful,” said Dr. Keith-Thomas Ayoob, an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a registered dietitian. “Iodized salt is not an option -- it has iodine but not enough to matter for this purpose."

One problem with relying on natural foods in an emergency situation is that “natural food sources can vary in their iodine content, even within the same food, because where the food comes from may vary in iodine content," said Ayoob. "That said, komubu, an edible kelp from Japan, is a great source of iodine, but it's not the type of seaweed that's usually found wrapping up sushi. Nori saweed is usually wrapping sushi and that one isn't a stellar source of iodine."

The bottom line, he said is that "while seaweed is fine to include in the diet and can be an excellent food and source of nutrients, I wouldn't advise anyone to go eat it for therapeutic reasons at this point."

Moreover, while iodine may be useful in protecting against thyroid cancer, radiation can produce many kinds of cancer and iodine won't protect you against those other ones, Ayoob added.

Panicked Californians are reportedly stocking up on potassium iodide supplements as protection against nuclear radiation from Japan and sellers are jacking up the prices. But while U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said it’s important to be prepared, a spokesperson clarified her position, saying she doesn’t recommend that people go out and purchase KI for themselves.

"Taking high doses of iodine can itself have adverse effects, including causing abnormalities of thyroid function,” said Dr. Alan Gaby, the author of the textbook, “Nutritional Medicine.” “Personally, I would not take a large dose of iodine without any clear evidence of radiation exposure."

Added Ayoob: “There are a ton of charlatans out there just waiting for catastrophes like this to squeeze extra money from desperate consumers. Let's hope this issue wilts before people go crazy.”